The Greatest Tox Scene in Opera

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCWxbfFIflE
Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte has what is, beyond any argument, the greatest and funniest medical toxicology scene in all of opera. On this Saturday (April 26), the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD series will broadcast Cosi to theaters around the world,with James Levine conducting. As one who thinks that the 3 operas — The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Cosi fan tutte — written by Mozart and his librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte represent the greatest works of art in the history of the human race, I can’t wait. In anticipation, I am rerunning this post from several years ago:
There is an amazing toxicology-themed scene in the finale to Act I of Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte. In the opera, two young friends — Ferrando and Guglielmo — make a bet with an older cynic — Don Alfonso — that their fiances — Fiordiligi and Dorabella — will remain ever faithful. (If you’re having trouble sorting out these characters at home, you’re in good company. Apparently, Mozart at times confused them in the manuscript to the opera.) Keeping with the terms of the bet, the two friends disguise themselves as Albanian soldiers and pursue the other’s fiance. Initially unsuccessful, they pretend to swallow arsenic and collapse. A doctor is summoned and appears, but it is actually Despina the maid in disguise. The libretto continues:
DON ALFONSO:&n...

Related Links:

Publication date: September 2019Source: Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology, Volume 55Author(s): Nasim Zamani, Hossein Hassanian-Moghaddam, Hooman Bahrami-Motlagh, Sara Ahmadi, Scott PhillipsAbstractObjectivesOur study attempts to determine if for patients following ingestion of lead-contaminated opium, radiographs [plain X-ray (KUB)] or unenhanced computed tomography (CT scan) of the abdomen may be predictive of lead poisoning.MethodsOur study is concerned with patients of>21 years with elevated lead concentrations, who had undergone KUB or CT. Patients with other toxicities who had undergone similar imag...

Publication date: Available online 22 May 2019Source: Journal of Forensic and Legal MedicineAuthor(s): Utsav Parekh, Sanjay GuptaAbstractPoisoning is recognized as a major factor for deaths in majority of low-income and middle- income countries. Although it is considered as a global burden, the nature of poisoning may vary in different areas across the world. The Charutar region in the state of Gujarat in western India has a unique topography and cultivation practises which sets it apart from the rest of the state. Due to the dearth of studies pertaining to the access of the population at this area to different types of po...

ConclusionRoad traffic accident is therefore the leading cause of unnatural traumatic deaths as it accounted for more than half of all unnatural traumatic death cases reported in the forensics department. Men, especially the youth are also more prone to violent unnatural deaths compared to women in general. It is shown that, men die more in the various categories than women. Males are likely to die on the average, 3 times more than the females by any of the manner of deaths.

ConclusionsVarious HuNoV genotypes including GII.2, GII.4, GII.6, and GII.17 were shown to be associated with various types of outbreak sites (at childcare and educational facilities, involving cases of food poisoning, and at elderly nursing homes) in this study. These genotypes emerged in recent years, and their prevalence patterns differed from each other. Moreover, differences in outbreak sites and viral load of patients among the genotypes were identified.

The published version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake. In Figure 1 on the molecular network of acebutololol, two molecular structures are not displayed ( “acebutolol glucuronide “and “impurity J”). The Figure is corrected here.

ABSTRACT
Seizures induced by organophosphorus nerve agent exposure become refractory to treatment with benzodiazepines because these drugs engage synaptic gamma-aminobutyric acid-A receptors (GABAARs) that rapidly internalize during status epilepticus (SE). Extrasynaptic GABAARs, such as those containing α4β3δ subunits, are a putative pharmacological target to comprehensively manage nerve agent-induced seizures since they do not internalize during SE and are continuously available for activation. Neurosteroids related to allopregnanolone have been tested as a possible replacement for benzodiazepines be...